WORK FORCE BLOG -- SCOTT SUTTELL

A college degree helps, but it's no guarantee of a job

There's no doubt that getting a college degree improves your earnings potential, but increasingly it's not a guarantee of landing a good job.

CNNMoney.com points to a study released Monday by Richard Vedder, an economist at Ohio University. His research shows that about 37% of employed U.S. college graduates are working in jobs that require no more than a high school diploma — taxi drivers, sales clerks, firefighters, telemarketers, and so forth.

Prof. Vedder calls this phenomenon "credential inflation," as the supply of college grads is growing faster than the jobs requiring that level of education, the story notes.

"A lot of people, particularly people with bachelor's degrees, are getting jobs, but not good jobs," he says.

And he's something of a pessimist. Prof. Vedder argues, for instance, that an underemployment problem is likely to persist even after the U.S. economy recovers fully from the jobs crisis. He predicts that the number of college grads “will grow by 19 million between 2010 and 2020, while the number of jobs requiring that education is expected to grow by less than 7 million,” CNNMoney.com reports.

Even so, this story, also from CNNMoney.com, reinforces that education remains the best weapon against a weak jobs market.

People with bachelor's degrees experienced 5% employment gains from 2010 to 2012, while those with master's degrees and beyond did even better, with 7% job gains.

By contrast, the number of jobs for people with high school degrees or less fell by nearly 2%.

“Those with a high school education or less are a large group, making up 36% of all U.S. workers over age 25,” according to the website. “Their job losses started in 2007 and have yet to stop. About 767,000 fewer workers reported having a job in 2012 than they did in 2010.”

Over that same time period, 2 million of them “have left the work force altogether,” CNNMoney.com reports.

The university will use the money to buy high-tech manufacturing equipment that will be installed at NAMII's headquarters in downtown Youngstown for use in research and development, the newspaper reports.

“Two million dollars' worth of high-end, up-to-date equipment a thousand feet from our campus means our students can go down to work on that equipment, see it operate firsthand and learn how to use it effectively,” says Martin Abraham, dean of the college of science, technology, engineering and mathematics at YSU.

“It also allows our faculty to work with it and provide the access we need to build academic programs and meet the needs of other NAMII members,” he adds.

NAMII is an effort by more than 65 private and public entities, primarily in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, to further commercialize additive manufacturing.

The Vindicator notes that the technology uses three-dimensional imaging software “that is used to draw a blueprint that specialized machines interpret to build a product by printing layers of plastic, metal and resin in a process that has the ability to drastically reduce the time, labor and material used in manufacturing.”

The flu is nothing to sneeze at

Many workplaces these days are contending with an abnormally high number of sick employees, so this story, about what to do when you have the flu, should come in handy.

For workers who begin experiencing flu symptoms, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control advises staying home and not contaminating their colleagues.

“That seems like sound advice, but way too many employees are reluctant to call in sick, even when down and out with a flu or cold,” according to the story from The Dayton Daily News. For instance, a 2012 study by business retailer Staples found that about 80% of workers show up at the office even if they are sick. And a report from Bloomberg says the rate of sick day usage by U.S. employees is 50% less than in 2006. (Which makes sense, because nobody these days wants to look like they're slacking off. Plus, it's generally a pain to take a sick day.)

But on those occasions when you do call in sick, Peter Handel, CEO at Dale Carnegie Training, a New York City-based international business services outfit, suggests you do the following:

Be realistic. An employee should call in sick when their illness is still contagious and their productivity will decline significantly due to their illness. "If an employee knows the quality of their work will be negatively affected due to their illness, it is best for all parties involved to call in sick," Mr. Handel says.

Cut yourself some slack. Staffers often feel like they're so vital the office can't survive without them. That's a mistake. "We encourage employees to take care of themselves when needed in order to ensure they continually perform their best," he says.

Rouse yourself on a "temporary" basis. Client meetings and high-profile calls scheduled far in advance are often legitimate reasons for employees to try to get into the office even if they are feeling under the weather. If it's impossible to reschedule, employees can offer to call in from home to not miss an important meeting.

Get ahead of the problem. Employees should make the decision to call in sick as early as possible ¬— even the night before if possible, Mr. Handel advises.

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